Clicking noise coming from back end?

EDIT: Sorry forgot to add more details about the truck- 2002 SCREW 4x4 just under 64K miles

I have been looking and reading a bunch of "strange noise" threads and I guess I have to add my own one to the group.

After a few 5 minutes or so of driving when I slow down to make a turn I am hearing a strange click, click, click, click, click sound coming from what I think is under the bed (but I am not 100%) that follows me through the turn.

The noise doesn’t happen when I am driving normally or at highway speeds. It will happen right when almost come to a stop, making a turn, and then for a few seconds after the turn while I get back up to speed. It has happened when I have come to a stop and just started again, but it’s primarily when I am turning. Could it be something suspension related?

I thought it might been something lose under the truck however I have crawled around under it and checked most of the wires, connections and pipes that I can get to and shake and nothing really stood out that could be making the noise. I have jacked up the truck and checked the tires for rock and didn’t find any.

SO I don’t know what else really to check. Any other thoughts and insight on this problem would be great.

Had a front wheel drive car that did that and it was the axle... But that's probably not it unless its part of the 4wd in the front taht attached to the front drive? Check the underneath and see if there are any tears around the boot cover. If so -this could be it... Kind of a clicking noise...

Father in law was in town over the weekend and we inspected the truck:

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx12-iowa

Had a front wheel drive car that did that and it was the axle... But that's probably not it unless its part of the 4wd in the front that attached to the front drive? Check the underneath and see if there are any tears around the boot cover. If so -this could be it... Kind of a clicking noise...

From what I can hear it, it sounds like its coming from the left rear tire. So I dont think its anything up in the front end. We did inspect the front area but didnt see anything out of the ordinary. But you are right on the sound. Its a clicking noise and its an even click when it does it. It doesn’t speed up or down with the speed of the truck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A2SuperCrew

Do you hear it before or after applying the brakes? How about when you're changing direction? (Back up, brake, move forward, brake.)

Maybe it's a loose pad or sticky caliper?

I hear the sound as I apply the brakes through and turn the wheel during a turn. Sometimes I will hear it if I am just coming to a stop, however it happens more often when I slow for a turn (not actually come to a stop), turn, and accelerate off the turn. Seems like it likes to do it more on right hand turns than left, but I have heard the clicking sound on both turns.

Other than that I dont hear it backing up and turning or any other times. The truck seems to drive nice and I dont notice any problems in acceleration.

From where I thought he sound was coming from (left rear) we pulled the tire and caliper and really didnt see anything wrong. Brake pads looked good, caliper and bushings moved with no resistance. The father in law did make notice that when the caliper was mounted back to the hub/wheel assembly that it did have a play to it. It wasn’t stiff. You could move it with your hand like an eight of an inch side to side. He said he never seen a brake caliper with that much play in it. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Ujoints looked tight. Normal wear and tear on them. Havent thought about replacing them but it looks like it could be a cheap fix that could possibly fix the problem.
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Now on a whim my father in law wanted to check the fluid level in the rear differential. He pulled the fill plug off and stuck his pinkie in and it was covered, as well as the end of the fill plug, a sliver like grease. Almost look like that anti seize stuff. He check the level with his finger again and said he could not feel any fluid in there. He said it should be pretty much level with the fill plug. We went and bought a quart and poured about half in. It didnt really seem to help the click issue much.

From reading my owners manual it says that I should not have to change or add any fluids to the rear differential. So I am not sure if the fluid level being down might have caused something to break and thats why I am hearing this clicking noise?

Doing some web searching for some unrelated items I came across this page for a web site an F250 Axle Assembly. To quote the web site's description of the item: Another common sign that your Ford F250 Discount Axle Assembly may need repair is a clicking or thumping noise that is heard when making a turn.

Now I know this is for a F250 but could this related to the problem I am having?

Is this for the front end or rear end? Sorry my mechanical skills are sometimes arent the greatest!

Edit: Disregard the statements below, the clicking is getting worse, and is now inconsistant, and I believe it is the rotors/pads/parking brake. The tire is very difficult to turn (when jacked up) and I can hear a grinding with the caliper off, so I believe it is the parking break stuck on.

I am having the exact same problem, and it's driving me nuts! I hate new sounds coming from my truck cause I know somethings wrong. Mine just started though and it does it all the time, not constantly, but in forward, reverse, left/right turn, accelerate, brake. The only thing I have going for me is I bought it last September, and I got a 2yr powertrain warranty with it. I thought it was these wires I ran to my box for lights, so I secured those, and checked everything like you did, and nothing.
I can tell you know I'm taking it to my mechanic ASAP, and if he says it the rear diff, the dealership I got it from is getting a call.

If anyone can answer these questions it would be great.

If it is the rear diff lock, why is nothing skipping/slipping?
Is it possible it's somehow stuck in 4x4 mode?
Would driving it on dry concrete in 4x4 do this to the diff? (I would never do that, I bought it used like my buddy in the forum here.)

Edit: Disregard the statements below, the clicking is getting worse, and is now inconsistant, and I believe it is the rotors/pads/parking brake. The tire is very difficult to turn (when jacked up) and I can hear a grinding with the caliper off, so I believe it is the parking break stuck on.

I will be interested in what you find out with about the brake system to see if that is causing the issue for you.

I jacked my rear end up last weekend and took the cover plate off the differential, drained the fluid and didn’t see anything that looked out place and refilled it with new fluid.

Now when I did have the rear end on jack stands I couldnt turn the wheels too. Now if this might be a parking brake issues, how come the truck wouldn’t be squealing or make my truck feel like its underpowered because of the breaks being engaged?

I have a 2001 Supercrew and had a similar noise originating from the left rear end of the truck. I looked at several different components identified in this and various other "rear end noise" threads but could not pin point the cause. Yesterday, after several weeks of troubleshooting, I gave up and took it into the dealer. The technician found the rear emergency brake shoes had come apart. You won't find this problem by only pulling the wheel off and looking at rear brake pads/ caliper. You have to pull the rotor (I recommend you look at the recent posting by 02SC4X4 for the specifics). Hope this helps!

You have to pull the rotor (I recommend you look at the recent posting by 02SC4X4 for the specifics). Hope this helps!

Thanks for your reply.

Read his post and I have been waiting to hear back from 02SC4X4 for a while now to see what he found out. If he can confirm the same thing you found out with the emergency brake system then I will go ahead and dig a little bit deeper into mine.

I also have a 2001 Supercrew. Mine has 98,000+ miles on it. Recently I've heard clunking noises from the rear of the truck. Last night my son and I took the rear passenger wheel off, removed the rotor and found there was no brake pad on the emergency brake shoes. Since the emergency brake shoes float, I think that the springs had become weak allowing the shoes to move causing the clunking noise (just a guess on my part). We replaced the emergency brake shoes, springs and other hardware with new. The noise is gone! It looks like the lever that pushes the shoes to engage the brake was stuck causing the shoes to wear out. I've lubed up the lever and hopefully it will not get stuck again. Thank you for your help!

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